KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah today said that the government is carrying out a study on the new mechanism of tax structures for digital overseas providers.

This group is categorised as foreign entities who provide services in Malaysia to explore new sources of revenue for the country.

However, he said the government has yet to decide whether the digital taxation can be incorporated in the upcoming Budget 2019 which is scheduled on November 2.

“We will come out with new mechanism but we are still studying it and we will impose something for them.

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“If we put this matter (digital tax) aside, I think the nation will be losing its revenue,” he told reporters on the sidelines after launching World Bank’s report entitled Malaysia’s Digital Economy: A New Driver of Growth here today.

The report summarises the work of a programme managed by the World Bank Group Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Malaysia, in collaboration with Finance Ministry and other partners.

According to the report, Malaysia’s past performance offers substantial optimism about the future of its digital economy.

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Amiruddin said the digital economy in Malaysia shows promise.

“Among the highlights of the findings is that we need to specially fixed the broadband system which is cheaper and faster.

“When this happens, we expect more companies to come on to the bandwagon and use digital transactions,” he added.